The Black Monster
by L. Damarik Laizare
Summary: Rose...lost in her mind after the Dragon Campaign. What is she to do with herself? Charle has a possible solution. But it will cost Rose both her mortality and eventually her soul.
1. The Beginning

The woman who was the dragoon of Darkness sat emotionless inside one of the sleeping chambers inside of Charle Frahma's palace. As the moonlight streamed through the oval windows, touching lightly on her pale face, all she could think about was how she had failed them. Kanzas, Belzac, Damia, Shirley, Syuviel. But most of all, how she had failed to hold on.  
  
That last moment.  
  
Thier fingers met.  
  
Slipped, but refirmed their grip upon each other.  
  
Slipped again, never to meet another time.  
  
Drug away from each other.  
  
Zieg...  
  
Sleep wouldn't come. Dreams wouldn't bring them back to her, no matter how real they seemed. Lying upon her blood matted hair, Rose's mind swirled with horror at the past fifteen hours.  
  
The bloodshed.  
  
The screams.  
  
People being killed by wingly and virage alike.  
  
The brutality and savageness of it all. It seemed now like it had happened so far away. That any moment, her six comrades would come through the jaded glow of the teleporter to take her out of the madness. But no such comfort came for her. They had successfully taken down Denningrad, Aglis and Zenebatos without worry. But it all began to fall when they'd lost the youngest of company at Mayfil. Damia, the Dragoon of the deep blue seas, had been executed there, died infront of Zieg and Syuviel. Everyone had watched her go, taking a piece of each of them, including the hard hearted Kanzas.  
  
What would become of her now? The cause won, the war over. Would she fall prey to the wind of time?  
  
A bright flash of emerald light snapped her back to attention. With eyes half focused on the teleporter situated diagonally across the purple walled room from her, Rose slowly sat up, her mind barely registering that someone she knew was coming through the machine.  
  
As silver hair and pink fabric became material form on the pad, Charle stepped out into the room, eyes held upon the disheveled girl in the corner pod. Lightly walking, barely making a sound, the wingly crossed the room in mere seconds to where Rose lay, sympathy overflowing from her crimson eyes.  
  
"Rosie dear...how are you feeling?" Charle's voice rang out, shattering the silence, seemingly as loud as the bell tone of a clock tower compared to the quiessence of the room.  
  
'Hah, what a laugh. Feeling. I'm not feeling anything but pain.'  
  
Was this truly what she was feeling, or was her mind toying with her emotions again, as it had a bad habit of doing? No, this truly did hurt, but not in the form of physical pain, though along with her emotional struggle, the pain of many cuts and gashes across her body coursed through her like a river of torment and agony. As her mind taunted her feelings with various questions and puzzles, Charle stood silently, stone centered, gazing upon the one whom she'd taken to calling her own.  
  
"You know dearie, it's not good to dwell on the past..." Charle again broken the almost deadness of the room, her face continuing to melt into further worry for the girl whom had lost so much in so little time.  
  
"Zieg...."  
  
Upon hearing the name of another whom she'd almost adopted as a child, the wingly knelt down beside the lost one, placing an almost ghostly thin hand upon her shoulder lightly.  
  
"Rosie...he's not coming back."  
  
Apparently, the wrong thing to say.  
  
Immediatley, Rose began sobbing, drenching her dressings in a neverending flow of tears. How had things gone so wrong? One moment they were before Emperor Diaz pledging thier undying love. Swearing to be married upon the war's end. Here now at the end of the campaign, nothing changed, except for the loss of one of the pair. And everyone knows it takes two to be married.  
  
"You still need more time to get over this dear. Think on it a little while longer. I'll be back in an hour."  
  
With that, as silently as she had come, Charle vanished from the room through the teleporter, once again leaving Rose to lament over her lost love... 


	2. Questioning

'Time. Ever slipping away through the fingers, the grasp of those who try to hold onto every memory. Never standing still, even for a moment. Where had it all gone to? One moment, we were living under Charle's rule, trained as entertainment slaves. Also trained to work. And yet...trained to fight.  
  
Then came the day of our freedom.  
  
Diaz.  
  
Vellweb of Imperial Gloriano.  
  
The Seven Towers. We were offered the chance to fight for the end of subjugation. The end of slavery. Was it worth it? To lose all of you? Had I known the outcome, would I have stopped you Zieg, and myself from fighting? We could have been happier. We could have escaped Vellweb and lived among the hills of the countryside, away from the Wingly rule. But...what would life have been without the others?  
  
Damia...I miss your always happy face. The way you'd always find a way to cheer us up, even in the hardest of times...  
  
Belzac...you're kindness was always welcome, even when we wanted to be alone. What brought you to such a fearless, yet untimely end?  
  
Shirley...without you, we'd have never made it through Charle. Why then did you, of all of us, have to die?  
  
Syuviel, I will miss your late night studies. I remember watching you through your window as you pondered over your books, often accompanied by your little tag along, Damia. I remember her even putting you to bed once...  
  
Kanzas...........we may not have gotten along, but it was your determination to aggravate us that kept us on the path...the path to freedom. Was it the fact that when it was all over that we'd be able to get away from you? No...you helped us more than we could ever appreciate.  
  
I'm so sorry I failed everyone. I didn't mean to be weak in the end. There was nothing I could do to save any of you. Nothing...as far as that, it is what I feel like right now. Absoultely nothing. I may have acted tough, but it was for the good of the team. Inside, I'm still just that crying little girl they found huddled with her mother and baby sister inside of the wreckage of the town. Why did I not see that I couldn't do this?  
  
So what? I'd beaten a dragon.  
  
Big deal? I'd become a Dragoon.  
  
What did it all mean? Why had I given myself into something that was so much larger than these small victories? I should have known we couldn't defeat the entire wingly dominance without losing many of us. I should have known that there was the chance that you, Zieg, and I wouldn't make it out alive.  
  
But why didn't I stop myself? Why didn't I see that we couldn't do it?  
  
But we did win. Does that really matter? Now that I'm in the company of those we'd fought against, does it really matter that we won? Was It All Worth Losing All of You?'  
  
Rose's mind spun on these very questions for most of the day. She'd become a little more cohereant since the other day, now actually moving enough to get herself to the cafe. As she sat inside of the dull bronze room, leaning heavily on the bar with a drink beside her, the memories still rushed back. She had once sat here with the others as children, excluding Damia, as she was too young to enter.  
  
They had all joked about how one day they were all going to be extravagent people, living the high life. Someday when they were free. The bartender had refused them drinks because they were slaves, but it was worth it just to sit inside a wingly establishment without being thrown out. A thing they would always remember while sitting inside the common room at the base of the seven hours.  
  
Memories. Always a haunting thing. Especially when the people you think of are gone.  
  
Rose sipped at the malt wine, adjusting her headband, making sure that the pointed tips still stood visible atop of her head. Why had she bought it?  
  
'I always thought you'd look cute in cat ears.' Zieg's voice echoed in her mind. He'd seen the headband in a store in Vellweb, picking it out immediately to take back for Rose. It was a small gift to her before thier raid on Aglis, the Magic City.  
  
With a sigh, she removed the trinket for a moment, looking over the violet gems set inside the front of it. Purple. The color of her armored clothing.The color of her mismatched boots.  
  
Why had it been purple? That was the elemental color of Electricity. Her element, Darkness, was black. Not purple. Blackness....a thing that would change her future drastically. Something to alter time and save humanity, though at the cost of many more lives.  
  
As the night wore on, it so happened that Charle had kept her eye on her adoptive daughter, knowing that in time, she'd have to tell of the prophecy...  
  
'Every 108 years, when the Moon that Never Sets glows Red, a Moon Child shall descend to the Earth to give it a Holy Blessing.'  
  
Morning. It came as always, finding Rose still inside the cafe. Thoroughly deprived of sleep for the night, it didn't take much convincing from Charle to come to the Palace of Ulara. In the time she'd known her, Rose would've thought that Charle wouldn't have taken to her like she did. In previous years, more than five years before, she'd treated her like trash, as she was Charle's slave. Why then, after defeating her brother, Melbu, and ending the reign of the Winglies, did Charle immediately latch onto Rose like her only guideline to life?  
  
She was about to find out. 


	3. Birth of a Monster

"Rosie dear, there's something I have to tell you." Charle said from atop her high perched throne. With Rose before her, the only thing holding her back from spilling everything was her own anxiety. "There's been something I've been meaning to ask you for the longest time, but seeing as you've been distraught, I didn't want to trouble you any further dearie."  
  
"Get on with it already..." Rose said, almost as darkly as her dragoon spirit shone.  
  
"Well...yes, alright. You see, at the beginning of our rule, my baby brother, Melbu, had found out about a prophecy. One stating that when 108 years had passed, something called the Moon Child would come to earth, giving it a holy blessing. Are you following?"  
  
"Yes. What does this have to do with me?"  
  
"In the early days, we thought nothing of it. But then, after studying it for a long time, Melbu found out something dreadful about the prophecy. This moon child was not a godsend but a destroyer, a God of Destruction, someone sent to rid the planet of all life. So, he captured the god of destruction and set it in two separate places. The soul of the god became the Signet Sphere, Melbu's source of power."  
  
"And the other?" Rose asked impatiently.  
  
"The flesh became the Moon that Never Sets." Charle stated.  
  
"So? I still don't get why you're telling me this."  
  
"I'm getting to that. You see, when Melbu and Zieggy fought in Kadessa, after everything happened, the Signet Sphere was destroyed and the soul had begun a transmigration. It has begun to try and return to the Moon. This is where you come in, Rosie. We need someone to make sure that the soul never makes it back to the moon. As of right now, you're the only one I know of who could do such a thing."  
  
"Me? How would I do it, even if I wanted to?" Rose wondered aloud, both amazed and bewildered at the prospect of her current position.  
  
"Take out your spirit Rosie, but first, put this on." Charle retrieved a small choker from her robes, a pearl set inside the band, swirling with magical power.  
  
Rose slid the choker around her neck and fastened it, immediately feeling like she'd never felt before, almost younger in a sense. With that done, the dragoon spirit was dug out of her pocket and held up before Charle.  
  
"Now, begin the transformation, but you must hold onto a bit of your human self."  
  
"I can't. To transform, a person must enter into insanity. They must find the need to fight."  
  
"Rose, you can do it. I know you can."  
  
Rose sighed heavily, taking up the spirit again and holding it eye level. With great concentration, she felt the change begin to take place. The familiar power and strength of the dragon was coursing through her, filling every part of her being with the means to take on anything.  
  
"Find the part of you that hates my brother. Find it and hold onto it." Charle instructed.  
  
Rose didn't need to look far, the deep seated hate and disgust from Melbu Frahma still lied close to the top of her mind and heart.  
  
"Hold it Rosie, don't let that hate go. Remember, he killed our Zieggy."  
  
Those words sparked something inside of Rose. Some deep, dark part of her soul she'd never even touched upon before. Someplace where the pain and hurt, the torment, anguish and agony of every sad thing that ever happened to her had built up.  
  
"You feel it, don't you Rosie? The blackness. The hate. Use it. Bring it out of hiding. Let it become who you are. This will be your purpose. You will live to kill, and kill to live. This blackness shall be your power. It will bring out the part of you needed to keep the Moon Child from living. The part that will keep the other four signets that hold the Moon that Never Sets in the sky. This blackness shall be your weapon, for with it, you will be able to make a fire that burns like no other."  
  
Rose could feel the despair leaking into her mind, the blackness that Charle spoke of, as it entered into every part of her. The very soul of this blackness harbored a monster, a being created out of the pain and suffering she had held inside for so many years. As Rose finally lost contact with herself, the monster arose to take her place.  
  
"And so begins the cycle of the Moon Child's destruction..." Charle whispered silently. A dark power, swirling about Rose's feet shot up around her, the dragoon armor wrapped around her body changing into that of the skin of this new beast. The rapier held in her hand, becoming a sword of pure black energy. The wings alighted on her back, twisting and morphing into some black remnant of what they used to be. And Rose herself became that of the monster, surrounded in darkness. A flame of pure black power wound itself up the body of the beast, enveloping her in the darkness she had become so accustomed to in the past year.  
  
Though barely able to, Rose did as Charle said, and held onto part of her humanity. Through a voice that sounded as though it came from the depths of the hells of Mayfil, the bestial form she had taken asked but one question.  
  
"How will I know who it is, that has become the Moon Child?"  
  
"I will give you this, in agreement that you will fulfill your new duty as the guardian of this planet and it's inhabitants." Charle's hand was held out, palm up closed. As the monster before her slowly nodded it's head, the hand uncurled to reveal a small jewel, small enough to replace one in Rose's headband. "This is a piece of the Signet Sphere that was held in Kadessa. It alone will be able to tell you when the Moon Child is at hand, and where you can find it. It is inconspicuous, so people will not be able to tell you apart from anyone else walking down the street, thus you can walk among them in safety, and they will not know you are searching for the child."  
  
As Charle bid Rose to take hold of herself again, tears began to form in her eyes. She knew that to thrust such a duty on the girl now would only mean tragedy for her in the future. When Rose replaced the middle jewel in her headband, Charle knew it would be a long road ahead of Rose. They would see each other many more times in the following years, but only long enough for Rose to stop in and say hello, to chat momentarily, and then for her to leave as she had come.  
  
The Black Monster had been born. 


	4. 1st Encounter

The First Incident...

82 years after the Dragon Campaign had begun...

* * *

It was just outside of present day Kazas. At that time, the Black Castle didn't exist as humanity was just beginning to spread it's unchained wings back out into the southern lands again. Nobody looked twice at the raven headed female as she strolled down the streets between the cottages. She was just an ordinary person. Nobody stopped to notice that she had a sword, no one cared that her headband gave her cat-like ears.

Even her mismatched boots lay indifferent among the eyes of the townspeople.

Rose was as plain as the grass in the nearby fields.

It was a mid-summer afternoon, warm, but with a gentle breeze sweeping across the ground, making for excellent wandering weather. It was these kind of days that people looked for, as they were perfect for doing anything. You could plant your fields on these types of day, hang your wash without a care in the world...

Or you could hunt someone dangerous down.

To Rose, this was ideal hunting weather. It was hot enough to keep her from getting cold, but cool enough so that she didn't have to worry about taking off her armored clothing. Since the first Moon Child back in the days of Frahma had been killed, 108 years had passed. The time was right for the next to appear.

As she wandered through the town, passing buildings being built, she took notice to how they were designed. Each home had a flat roof, not pitched like a normal one would. The windows were evenly spaced along the walls, and staggered as the stories went up, though the highest building in the town so far was the church. On the first floor, they'd be facing the streets, on the second, they'd face the neighboring houses, and on the third, they'd be back facing the streets, and so on.

It took a lot of time to cover the whole town. Eventually, while not really going anywhere, Rose came upon a group of children playing in the streets, a group of seven children to be precise.

There was a tall, well built child, wearing a golden headband.

There was a small child with blue hair, scars adorning her scaled face.

Another, with brown hair, scuffling with the fourth child, a girl with black hair.

Then, off on the side were two more boys, one with brown hair and glasses, reading out of a book, another with blonde hair to his shoulders listening over his shoulder.

And finally, one red headed girl, playing on the opposite side of the street with her dolls.

Rose stopped dead in her tracks. What lay before her seemed a mirror of the past. An exact replica of the scene at hand had happened when she was a child, living in Ulara under Charle.

Belzac stood over Damia, who'd been thoroughly whipped that day, her face covered in cuts from the tips of the leather. He'd knelt down to hug the girl.

"Of course, dear Belzac was always like the father figure to us..."

Kanzas had picked another fight with Rose over who was tougher, seeing as he was always out to prove something. It seemed he had a vendetta against the world that couldn't be fulfilled.

Then, there was Syuviel and Zieg, always together, either reading or discussing something that nobody else could understand. They seemed like the two smartest of all of us there.

And of course, innocent little Shirley, playing with her cloth dolls by the cafetroium, the last thing she had from her home.

With a shake of her head, Rose cleared her mind of the memories, only to look again at the scene that had been before her to find that all the children had vanished. Was it an illusion taking hold of her mind? Had the children actually been there? Or had they all been some kind of daydream?

Pushing the thought out of her head, Rose continued her walk down the street. It seemed that even though only a short eighty-two years ago, they had all been dominated by winglies, that people's lives had returned to being as normal as possible. A thought that haunted anyone's mind would be the old what if...

What if the Winglies hadn't lost?

What if the Dragoons had failed?

What if we were still slaves to this day?

Unspeakable terms in the present. The Dragoons, seven unknown souls, had banded together to save them all, and then, vanished without a trace. What had become of them? It would be all the people and historians would talk about over the next two-hundred years until the stories passed into legend.

But as of the current day, the Dragon Campaign was still the hottest topic on the discussion list. That and the coming of the Moon Child.

As night fell that evening, Rose took to the local Inn, paying her way for the night as a place to sleep was always needed. Taking the key to her room, she sat at the bar momentarily, taking down a few drinks of the local wine and liquor, not really feeling the normal buzz of the alcohol. Either it was just that weak of a batch or she was finally getting used to the stuff.

The only sound inside of the bar was that of the musicians playing on the bandstand in the corner. They stummed out a hollow tune, one you'd usually hear at an inn-type setting, to keep spirits high and hopes alight. It was a pleasant type of music that anyone would be happy to sit down and listen to as they drank thier cares away, even if they only stayed momentarily.

But the songs were not to continue that night.

Outside, a scream of terror induced silence among the bar crowd, only one jumping from her seat to investigate. Like a bolt of lightning, she was out the door and into the middle of the street, rapier drawn and held ready to fight.

She was met with people staring into the sky, pointing to a bright red light, so bright that it almost shone with the same intensity of one hundred fires.

Rose looked on in horrified interest. The time to being her hunting was at hand.

The Moon That Never Sets had turned a bright crimson in color.

Without moving a muscle, she began to scan the crowd, looking for any sign that the Moon Child was near. All around her, people stood frozen in time, gaping at the oddity, wondering in awe at what was the beacon of their death. The lighthouse to the monster that would kill them all.

No, not Rose...the Moon Child. The God of Destruction. With Rose, there might have been a fraction of the original townspeople that survived. With the Moon Child, everyone around the world would perish.

As no sign for the Moon Child appeared to her through the gem in her headband, Rose took off through the town, tearing down each and every street, looking for something that seemed out of the ordinary. Every home she stopped at was thoroughly searched by the gem, not showing any activity of the monster she was looking for.

Until she came to a single home on the edge of town. Inside the limits of Kazas, there was a small, single story cottage that attracted the light of Rose's tracking jewel. The closer she got to it, the stronger the glow from her headband became. This was the signal beacon, the warning that the Moon Child was near. With a rub of the gem, the light faded, and Rose approached the house, silently as she could.

And upon looking through the window, a memory came flooding back to Rose's mind.

* * *

Rose and her sister Ruthie were inseperable from the moment Ruthie was born. Even when she turned the age of two, Rose spent all of her waking hours with her baby sister. Since her father had left the family three years prior to Ruthie's birth, Rose had had no one to cling to, as her mother was the uncaring type. She fed the children and took little care of them, but every now and then, she'd become emotional and would spend hours on end with the children.

Then, the Winglies came. News of their dominance began to spread quickly throughout the local towns. Some people had willingly given in, some had fought and died to protect thier families.

And finally, the day came when the Tower of Flanvel hovered over Lideria, an outlying island village. With news that Denningrad, capital of the human world at the time, had been completely captured, Lideria hadn't much of a chance to defend themselves. Most of the town was decimated. All that remained was one house on a small group of rocks, one tilted and half buried in the sand, and the mayor's residence, almost completely burned to the ground.

Inside the nearby shore caves, Rose, Ruthie, and thier mother huddled together in hopes that the Winglies wouldn't find them. Even after the floating fortress had skimmed out of the area, they didn't dare move from the cave, seeing as the Winglies had left sentries to guard over the area.

When three days had passed since the last Wingly came to check inside the cave, the three humans crawled out from thier hiding place underneath a large water-gate control box. As they climbed the stairs to the outside world, they were met with a closed gate. Even with Rose and her mother both working on opening it, they spent the better part of a day doing so.

Finally, back outside the cave, they saw what remained of thier little town. Thier home hadn't survived the onslaught. It lay all over the beach in pieces. The sand barely showed any traces that nearly two hundred people had lived in the small village. The only reminder of the once human populated area was three houses, and bloody corpses littering the ground.

In a few days, the Winglies returned to the area, scouting a possible sight to raise a new city from the Earth. They'd already brought three cities, the Royal Capital of Kadessa, the Magic City of Aglis and the law making City of Zenebatos from the ground, now hovering nearly five thousand feet in the air, shrouded by the lower hanging clouds.

It was on this day that a grunt rank soldier found three quivering humans inside the remains of the Mayor's home, huddled together, crying and begging for mercy. Begging to be spared. The sentence of disobediance of Wingly Rule by hiding...disobeying by not forfeiting thier right to live immediately...was to be sent into Slavery...

* * *

Rose's head again gave a quick shake. The scene before her looked so much like one from her past. A single mother, laying in bed with her daughter nearby, crying in the agonizing pain of child birth. A doctor, resident physician, standing ready to catch the new born child being forced from the womb.

Rose was once again staring into her past. But this time, it was all too real. The gem in her headband flashed a violet light as the child was born, continuing it's resonating glow as the physician check the baby for any abnormalities. After finding none, he placed the baby girl with her mother and sister, nodding and handing the woman a written note, detailing things she should watch for in the baby.

In that moment...

The darkness began to well up inside of her...

The pain and agony of seeing her past...

All those people she'd failed...

'Ruthie, Mother, Zieg...I'm sorry...'

And so, the Black Monster emerged, encompassing all that was Rose save a tiny bit of her humanity that she hung onto, needing it in order to return to herself.

"DEMON!" Came a cry from behind her.

But not another was to be heard from that person anymore. A quick spell of the Black Flame brought him to his knees, covered in the burning blackness. He fell dead within ten seconds.

As the doctor emerged to hear the cry of the man, he too called out to the townspeople.

"DEMON ON THE LOOSE! CALL THE GUARD!" But he too was felled by the flames of hatred.

The town had gone into a riotous frenzy, from both the Moon That Never Sets turning red, to the cry of demons.

Turning to see that all whom were able to fight had appeared, the Black Monster took off into the night sky, leaving behind her a trail of emerald and opalescent light. It was then that her human memory recalled someone she could count on. Someone she could call upon whenever he was needed. But until the time that he WAS needed, she would leave him be.

With the thought of help in the back of her head, the Black Monster set to ravaging those whom had come to fight her. She slew twenty with the Black Flame, returning to the ground with her deafening, horrifying roar.

As her eyes shone crimson, as red as the Moon, redder than blood itself, a vortex began to open up behind her. It started merely as a single, glowing white line erupting from the ground. But as said line began to widen, a void appeared between the two separate points, a powerful suction taking up a place in the world, dragging all manner of items into the portal.

Many shrieks and screams, roars and bellows, emanated from the swirling vortex of darkness, signaling it's transcendence into the demonic world. The rest of those that were left standing after the Black Flame were sucked into the portal, thier lives extinguished as fast as water over fire.

As the whole mess had been going on, people had come to the aide of the woman and her two daughters, whisking them away in a carraige towards Indels Castle in the north. Surely by now, they had at least reached the halfway point of the journey if they'd used the fastest horses they could find.

In anger at the escape, the Black Monster unleashed the Black Flame upon the rest of the town, tearing off into the sky at a frightening pace. She had to overtake them before the Moon Child could be brought to the Moon, however that was going to take place. Certainly, it would have to take some extraordinary powers to do such a thing.

Sure enough, as the Black Monster passed over the beginnings of what would be Lohan in the future seven years, the skies darkened to the point where they blotted out everything. From the clouds, the ruby red light of the Moon began to shine through, intensifying as the seconds passed.

The Monster wondered how many people would be awake to see such a spectical. Surely the Royalty in the castles would be informed immediately. Throughout the newly formed boundaries of Serdio, Tiberoa, and Mille Seasue, word would be spread of the Moon's drastic change. Knowing the end was close at hand, the Monster sped up, finally passing the mountainside of the local volcano, known as Mt. Villude.

In mere seconds, she came upon a small carriage on the road to the castle at the foothills of the Indels Mountains, centered in the rich spice fields where Basil was the most prominent of such plants.

She descended upon the vessel, roaring with fury as she flung the driver, now covered in the Black Flame, from his seat. Cutting the reigns and secures so the horses could go free, the Monster landed next to the carriage, the top of her magic flames barely visible from inside the car.

Inside, the heat was unbearable. The woman and her daughter sat with the baby cradled in it's mother's arms. They knew that it was done. The game was over, the cat had caught the mouse. With a frightened shriek, in a last ditch attempt to get away, she unbolted the door to the carriage opposite the Monster and scrambled out, dashing into the spice fields carrying her baby and dragging her daughter.

Catching on, the Black Monster lept up and over the carriage with the help of her wings, and took off after the woman on foot, overtaking her in mere seconds. She wasted no time in dispatching the mother, grabbing the little girl by the leg.

A thought flashed through her mind. She didn't have to kill the girl. Only the baby. In a minute, her mind was made up. She left the child fall to the ground, burned flesh where the Monster had held her. As she crawled away through the fields towards the castle, the Monster picked up the crying baby from where she had fallen in her mother's arms.

Holding her up by the nape of her neck, the Black Monster withdrew her demon sword, that which used to be her beloved rapier, and struck. As the night fell silent, devoid of the child's cries, the Moon slowly began to return to it's milky white color.

Placing the child back with her mother, the human side of Rose took over again, forcing the monster to hide once again in the dark recesses of her soul. Still holding tightly to her rapier, she placed it back into it's scabbard, heading off towards the castle in which the girl had crawled away to.

That night, a new being would be associated with the legend of the Moon Child. That night brought the first horrible reign of terror since the Winglies had fallen from thier place in the sky. That fateful night...Black Monster was born into history.


	5. The Twentythird Incident Part 1

The Twenty-third Incident (Part One)

2484 years after the Dragon Campaign ended.

The Twin Caslte in Fletz, the second most beautiful structure in all of Endiness, stood out against the dark, overcast sky. The gentle breeze picking up off of the sea behind the castle brought the smell of rain far out into the countryside, where the dark figure of a traveler stalked up the main road to the city.

For once, the usual purple armored clothing and headband was replaced by a white t-shirt, revealing her fit stomach and long, tan pants. Even the mismatched boots were replaced for regular lace tying shoes. For once, the woman known only to herself and the winglies as Rose, was just like a normal, average, everyday woman.

For once, the almost always let down onyx colored hair was tied up in a loose ponytail. Today was a day for Rose to relax. It wasn't often that she got the opportunity to let herself go, to dress like a normal person. Sure, she had 107 years in between cycles to do things, but she couldn't allow herself to be seen constantly by anyone. To do so would reveal that she wasn't normal. After all, who in thier right mortal body could have survived for more than 2500 years?

This ran through Rose's head as she entered the outer limits of Fletz. She had kept her identity a closely guarded secret. To most, she was an enigma. And that was the way it was supposed to be.

But there came the day when her identity was almost revealed.

The sparkling streets of Fletz were radiant as ever, even through the fresh coat of mosaic paints that had been placed in certain spots, roped off so nobody would touch them right away. As she strolled down the street in her normal street clothing, the very clothing that she was very rarely able to wear, Rose took notice to the new observatory they had begun to build upon the church, more beautiful than anything she'd ever seen. It was already beginning to turn out nicely, from the domed rooftop to the spire needle that stuck out of it. Everything here seemed so tranquil.

But, even though she wasn't hunting, Rose kept her eye out for anything unusual. It was time yet again for the next Moon Child to appear. The twenty-third since she had first begun her reign as the Black Monster. And since then, she'd lost both her best friend in the whole wide world, and her last tie to her former life, all in one soul.

Almost 2500 years ago, Rose had fought the Darkness Dragon. With it's death, a new dragonette had been born. Michael. That young dragon fought in the campaign and to this day still held company with Rose. Even though it was so long ago, her mind spun like it had happened last night. Today, she'd be doing something to ensure his memory lived on long after he was gone, no matter how much Rose dreaded that day. Today, she would place his name under the Dragon Registry in the Twin Towered Castle of Fletz.

Upon crossing the stream by the Church, the only means of crossing the water, Rose willed herself into the tavern that had been moved above the local hotel. The hallway leading into the main bar room already smelled heavily of whisky and brandy, though the reason was they had begun to store the spirits in the hall. Inside, the bar was beginning to fill up, seeing as night was setting in. Taking her time in finding a seat, the raven haired woman waited to be served upon.

Hah, served. Such a worthless, yet cruel word.

**[**_In those days, being served meant you were doing the dirty work without being paid. You sometimes got a room, maybe even a corner to sleep in at best. They fed you, only enough to keep you healthy enough to work for them. And when you didn't do something right, you were beaten for it._

_Rose's owner in particular was a very cruel wingly. He had done everything in his power to make Rose completely miserable, even selling Ruthie and thier mother to another wingly in Zenebatos, just so he could have her to himself. No, he wasn't the perverted type, but he was always trying to catch the girl alone for some reason._

_Perhaps it was because Rose's owner was part of the magical research inside of Aglis. The man was always trying to douse Rose in some sort of concoction, whether it be red, green, blue or black._

_But perhaps it was also because he loved to see Rose become angry. He always said she'd radiated some sort of mysterious power when aggravated that made his elemental spheres glow with an intense, dark light. In any case, the Wingly was forever tormenting her, doing something to her when she had a moment to herself._**]**

As the waitress finally made her way to Rose, she smiled and dipped into a small curtsie, which sent a chill down Rose's spine, and asked for an order to take.

"I'll just have whatever's ready, and let me get a small bit of water with that." Rose nodded politely, still trying to break her old habits that were forced upon her by her owner so long ago.

While awaiting her meal, her baby-blue's scanned the crowd of people for anyone unusual. Anything that would set her at unease. Even though her headband was safely tucked away inside her pocket, it wasn't for use in such a public place. Even the slightest glow from that detector gem of her's and people would begin to suspect something was up. Humans **_still_** hadn't perfected polymer-sythosis magic yet. Human made magic. What a joke, even when it was used on her in previous centuries, it only felt like a bee sting compared to the torment and pain her Black Flame could deal out

Even through the thick cloth of her pants leg, Rose caught a faint glimmer from the gem out of the corner of her eye. Quickly, though as inconspicously as she could, she stood and crossed the room, her eye on the gem, waiting as she passed through the sea of people for a reaction, maybe even a surge in the glow of the signal beacon.

Finally, after none came, though while in the process, recieving many odd looks, Rose returned to her seat, knowing that her duty had come again, even when she was trying to relax. Passing up this opportunity to hunt for her prey might prove fatal to everyone around her, but even the Black Monster needed time off, and every 108 years still wasn't enough time to forget the happenings of the previous hunt, all the people slaughtered for thier faith in the monster that would kill them, the monster disguised as a savior.

Even as the waitress returned with a steaming bowl of hot broth and Rose's glass of water, she felt like there was something going to happen that night. Something had almost destroyed her unbreakable nerves of steel. A feeling of darkness deeper than the one held within herself, darker than the Black Monster itself.

'What in the hells of Mayfil is going on?' She thought to herself, using a term the Winglies had used so long ago to question any new excitement.

No answer came to her. Nothing but the clammer and noise of the bar crowd. As Rose sat at the table, eating her soup, it caught her attention that a young man was looking directly at her. He had a childish face, even though bodily, he looked about her own age. The thick brown mop on his head, though well kept, nearly hid his bright yellow eyes which were excellently offset by a blue sleeveless shirt and black pants.

Though Rose made no motion for him to come over, her mind silently hoped that her life might actually be normal for once, beckoning him mentally to join her at the table.

Even without saying a word, it had seemed that Rose's silent wish had come true, as he slowly stood up, making his way through the crowd to join her at her table. Pulling out the chair opposite her, he sat himself down, sliding the chair in.

"You mind?" He asked her, his voice sounding like the most pleasant thing she'd ever heard. Next to Zieg's voice that was.

"No, not at all..." Rose replied, almost breathlessly as it felt like all the wind had been taken from her lungs. She looked him over in awe, wondering at the fact that he had almost the same build as her fallen beloved.

"I'm Martus. Martus Samus. Pleasure to make your accquaintence Ms...?"

"Rose..." She stammered, trying to find a last name, seeing that not using hers in over 2000 years had let it slip her mind. Once, she had thought of taking on Zieg's last name of Feld. After all, they were set to marry after the campaign was over, so why not? It would have been a great way to remember him. "Rose Feld."

At the mention of names, Rose's world seemed to melt around her, leaving just her and the newly introduced Martus at thier table. The same thing had first happened when she and Zieg first met. Was she going to fall for Martus the same way she had for dear Zieg?

"Where about are you from Rose?" He questioned, a smile crossing his face.

"I...it's been so long that I've nearly forgotten..." Rose stammered, momentarily forgetting exactly where it was she'd been born. But, quick as a flash, it returned to her. "Lideria...that's my hometown."

"It must be northern lands, I've never heard of it. Anyway, I'm from Kazas, in Serdio. You ever hear of that place?"

Rose faintly recalled hearing of the castle set to be built there starting next spring. It was to be the magical research headquarters of Serdio, and yet, the country seemed to be splitting itself into two sectors, northern and southern, as the towns and castles got farther away. But Kazas was a place she'd always remember. It was the site of her first hunt. The site of her first kill. Rose's first victory over the Moon Child as the Black Monster.

"Yes. I've been to Kazas once." She spoke carefully, trying to hide her identity.

"Strange...you look just like the woman my family had in a painting from our past. But you couldn't be her, that would make you..." He started.

"Over 2000 years old." Rose finished, smiling at the thought that she was well over that age. "But everyone knows it's impossible to live that long." She dipped her spoon into the broth, sipping the still hot liquid lightly so as not to burn herself.

"Even still, the woman in the painting we had depicted her wearing this cute little headband that made her look like she had cat ears." Martus again smiled. For once, Rose was glad she'd taken off her headband. "Wait a minute there...how did you know that the painting was over 2000 years old?"

Rose looked up from her broth, a sheepish grin on her face as she turned her gaze upon Martus' eyes. His own face had changed from one of smiles to one of suspicion and curiosity.

"Me? I...um...lucky guess I suppose. I'm good at that." Rose lied quickly, seeing as she'd never been much of one for guessing ages.

"Oh. I guess...whatever. Anyway, how did you get down here from the northlands? Passage has been restricted since before the fight began between Donau and Furni. The two rival ports haven't stopped bombarding each other with magic in over 5 years now."

"I came down from Mille Seseau about 7 years ago with some friends. We'd decided to get away from our parents and move into a place on our own." Rose said, using a part of her past to tell a new part of a false history. Yes, part of the reason Rose and the other six had went to Vellweb was to leave thier parents behind at Fort Magrad, save Damia who's parents at that time were gone.

"Wow. I'd never have the guts to do something like that at that age." Martus said. He shifted in his seat, eyes still locked on Rose. "You know, you're a pretty interesting person Rose."

"Thanks, but I try not to be." She replied, knowing that if anyone ever found out who she REALLY was, there'd be hell to pay.

"Why is that? You got something you're hiding?" Martus teased, trying to see if he could catch her off guard with a secret.

"No." Was the simple reply he'd gotten. "I'm just an ordinary person."

And so, on that note, the night went on, Rose and Martus lost in conversation with each other, talking about past events, in Rose's case, a fake past with parts of her own thrown in for realism and stories to talk about, future event's popping up here and there. Even through the stories of her friends, Rose felt like there was a connection growing between her and Martus, though she dared not let him get too close to finding out her true self.

As the night continued on, everything went off without a hitch. Nobody even noticed the bright light pulsing heavily in Rose's pocket as the two sat together.

Finally, the time came when the bar was closing. People and drunks began to file out, slowly, one by one. Soon, it came to being only Rose and Martus in each other's company at the table near the back of the room. The bartender came out from behind the bar, slowly walking up to thier table. With a polite smile on his face, he kindly told them that the bar was closed before walking off.

With a sigh, Rose stood up, taking her long empty bowl to the counter before returning to the table to say good night to her new friend.

"Perhaps we can meet here again tomorrow night?" Martus asked, seemingly genuinely interested in her. But, as Rose thought about it, she knew deep inside that there was only one way they'd ever be able to stay together, even if she'd wanted to. And she knew he'd never agree to be anything to her if he ever found out the dark secret she bore.

"No, perhaps it is better that we shant. After all, we're just strangers, right? Nothing in common but one night at the bar." Rose shrugged, hoping he'd take her ploy. But to her dismay, he continued.

"Please? I'm sure we have alot more in common that tonight. We've probably been to the same places and such, maybe we even know a few of the same people. Even still, I'd like to meet with you again." He gently took Rose's hand, holding it for a moment before beginning to stammer, lost in his own words. It was a shame to see the once talkative boy jumbling inside his own head. She couldn't do that to him.

"Oh...alright. Tomorrow then. Right here at this same table." She replied, lightly taking her hand back. Though it was against her unwritten code of Black Monsterdom to do such a thing, something about this man told Rose it was worth seeing him again. Only after he strode away, smiling at her over his shoulder did she take notice to the pulsing light coming from inside of her pants pocket...


	6. The Twentythird Incident Part 2

The day had begun like any normal day. Rose stepped out of bed and dressed in her street clothing, returned to the main hall of the Inn, and paid the keeper. It was a miracle she'd been able to find an open room in Fletz, seeing that the Royal Coronation was coming up in a week. Everyone who was anyone had tried to get a place to stay. Fortunately, there had been one room left for Rose to rent out.

Even as she strode out of the front door of the establishment, the sun seemed to peek down through the early morning clouds, almost as if playing hide and seek. But today was going to be different. It would be the day when someone would purposely see her, someone who wasn't a Wingly.

Why had she promised Martus to meet him at the bar? Was it his alluring charm? Something else about him that made her steely nerves collapse and give in? Not even she knew. But there was an appointment to keep that night and she would oblige.

To her duties for today, seeing as she'd been distracted yesterday, Rose entered the gates of the castle, using a special card to get by the gatesman. It signified that she was there on important business. In her case, Michael's name still needed to be remembered in the Registry. It called for anyone who's ancestors had known or owned a dragon to place the name and age of the dragon into the history books, that way all dragons who had been lost in the campaign could be forever honored.

Today was Rose's turn. As she took each lavish step towards the main hall, a sense of importance overtook her. A feeling that she wasn't here to just remember Michael, but that her place had been determined forever as his mother and keeper. Before she could fully ascend the stairs, though, somebody had stopped her.

"Well, imagine meeting you here. What a suprise." Martus's voice rang out from behind her as he took the stairs two at a time to catch up to her.

"Your family knew a dragon as well?" Rose asked, beginning to wonder what coincidence of fate had brought them together before thier appointed date.

"Yes, he was a very young dragon back when my family met him. Only just born." It was then that Rose noticed that Martus was carrying a small painting along with his card and registry papers.

"May I see the picture?" Rose asked, wanting to see what innocent soul had lost its life in the campaign.

Martus nodded before setting down his bag and papers, turning the portrait so that Rose could get a good view of it. He barely noticed when Rose gasped at what she saw, his mind already filled with things to tell her about who was on the painting and why he had it.

"This is the portrait of the woman as well as our family's dragon. In our past, my family was related to one of the original Dragoons. Here, this picture is depicting her with the dragon she'd chosen as her vassal."

Rose was looking at a picture of a black dragon, no larger than a house dog, with an orange fin on it's back, standing on two wobbly legs. And next to the dragon, kneeling in her armor, was one of the Dragoons from the campaign. As the sun glinted off of the dragon's steel-like armored scales in the painting, Rose's mind spun with what she was looking at.

"You know, you share the same name as the woman in the picture, but her last name is not the same. Both of you are Rose. Isn't that funny? You both look alike and have the same name."

And as he spoke those words, Rose thought of how ironically that point had been made. It was true. Both her current self and the woman in the picture were the exact same person, but as long as Martus didn't figure that out, she'd be safe.

"Who is the dragon you're here to register, Rose?"

At that moment, Rose's mind froze up. If he ever found out that they were here for the same dragon, he'd know instantaneously that something was amiss. She quickly scrambled to find an answer for his question, trying not to look too lost, but nothing was coming to mind. Not even the fact that she had known 6 other vassal dragons, though thier names remained lost to her at the moment.

"Me? I...ah...my dragon isn't as famous as yours..." She yet again lied to the man. Even though they were one in the same dragon, her secret couldn't be revealed, even if it felt like knives to the heart to lie about Michael. "He was just a family friend who died after the campaign ended. They say he helped take down all six Wingly establishments."

"Oh. Interesting." Martus said, smiling even though he was becoming suspicious about his new friend. He was on to her, he knew there was something she wasn't telling him. And it was now becoming apparent that these two people shared something more than a night at the bar in common.

Rose too, had begun to wonder about that. The hints were too much to ignore anymore. There was definately something else between them. They were **_Family_**...

**[**_Rose never did find out what happened to her mother and Ruthie. Last word from anyone that knew them said they'd been shipped off to Donau before the Dragoons had leveled it. Perhaps they'd been lost in the destruction of the Dragoon's and Dragon's onslaught. It was a thought that would forever scar her mind far into the future that she'd make for herself._**]**

"You know..." Martus began, but Rose quickly cut in.

"Well, are we going to just stand around here and gab or are we going to the Registry?" She smiled brightly, though as her pace quickened down into the castle, the thought couldn't escape her mind. Here was someone related to her. Someone who's family dated all the way back to **her** time, possibly a very distant grand child of Ruthie's. It was a haunting thought, coupled with the fact that her mind had just brought about the happenings of the previous night, when her headband had caught a very strong signal of her prey in the bar after everyone but her and Martus had left.

Rose dared not look at her pocket for fear now of what she might see. Saving the world was one thing, but killing a relation to do it? Even if he knew nothing about it, or she hardly even knew him? That would be going too far.

As Martus placed his entry into the Registry, he stepped out of the booth, allowing Rose to go in and place hers. If Martus ever returned to see the book, and Rose knew he would, providing her beacon was wrong about him, he'd find out who she was.

That wasn't her concern now though. The question arose of what exactly to put in the book without sounding suspicious. Rose at once knew she would have to lie again, but at least it would be mostly truth. It took her very little time, even to find an inscription to put underneath Michael's name.

_' To him who bravely flew in the Campaign, and fought even after the last was won.'_

Rose thought it did him justice, even though there was still much more to say. Michael was more to Rose than she could have ever written in the small space they provided for a quote. As she stood back, admiring her handiwork, the gem in her headband that rested in her pocket flashed with such a brilliance that it shone through the thick fabric, illuminating the booth with a bright, violet light.

As she rummaged through her pocket as fast as she could, trying to reach the gem, somebody stepped into the booth. The bright light seemed to grow even more bright, shining with such an intensity that Rose had to close her eyes. Finally, able to grip her headband, she pulled it out, rubbing the gem quickly, turning around and quickly thinking of an explanation.

But no such luck could be had. The moment thier eyes met, Rose knew no explanation but the truth would be in order.

Staring directly at her, and the headband in her hand, was Martus.

"You....you're....her, aren't you....?" He stammered quickly, unable to control himself as thought after thought rammed into his head. "But...I don't, I mean....how could you.....you're.....Rose....I thought....No, It Doesn't Make Sense!"

Rose's head slumped as she brushed past him quick as a bolt, racing out and down the stairs of the castle as fast as she could.

"WAIT ROSE! Somebody Stop That Woman!" Martus' voice echoed to her as she ran past the gatesman, pushing away as he tried to grab hold of her. Zooming down the street back towards the Inn, Rose knew her only refuge now would be to fly away and leave her troubles behind as she always did...


	7. The Twentythird Incident Part 3

It took no longer than moments to gather everything in the world that Rose owned, simply her sword and her dragoon spirit, her armored clothing and information papers. Everything that was stashed inside the hole underneath a rock outside of the city. With another quick burst of speed, she had left the outer limits of the city, grasslands spread before her as she headed north, forgetting about the wild fires that still burned from the ancient war.

Even now, 2484 years later, the fires from the Dragon Campaign still burned across what used to be the most beautiful natural structure in Tiberoa. What used to be a lush forest would soon be nothing but barren crags and ashen mountains, rills and valleys of rock. Human alone could stand the heat given off by the fires, so long as they took the path that had finally stopped burning a few hundred years ago. It led to an intersection of passageways, one leading off towards Donau, and one leading into the once beautiful Valley Gigantoss, now distorted by ruptured gravity fields.

As Rose came upon the burning lands, the distortion of gravity from the nearby valley became apparent, some of it's effects spilling into this land even with the valley more than twenty miles away. Hair folicles that blew with the slightest breeze were now floating without warrant, without a breeze, seemingly of thier own power. Of course, the woman knew better, the backwash from the overly large battle that was fought in the valley had caused the magical forces to become trapped there, intermingling and destroying seventy percent of the gravitational field. Even from this distance, the floating mounds of earth, some large enough to stand on, some large enough to build a mansion on, could be seen levitating with the use of unearthly power.

It took merely seconds upon coming to the barren lands for Rose's smell to pick up the heavy scent of smoke. Only a short five miles all around except from the west, heavy smoke rose throughout the skyline, covering the once marvelous forest, smoldering ashes still crunching underfoot as her shoes kept moving over them. Within minutes though, her street shoes had begun to smoke, making for a really hot foot. Although soon her shoes would burn through, there wasn't exactly a place to sit down and change, everything was still burning hot.

How had Martus even bought her story of coming down from the northlands seven years ago? The forest had been burning ever since the end of the campaign and the only way around was to pass over it, or to retreat through Valley Gigantoss, and niether was plausible. To pass overhead would mean to find a balloon big enough, and to pass through the valley was to chance being swept up into the sky or to be crushed to the ground, maybe never making it out due to unforseen gravitational changes and circumstances.

Even as Rose tried to tread lightly on the black coals that smoked her feet through the soles of her shoes, she knew there was only one way to go, now that people would be on the lookout for her. And to the dismay of the woman, it wasn't towards Donau. Her only refuge lay in the outskirts of the valley with corrupted gravity.

Two days journey brought her no news of anyone following her, afterall, it was considered suicide to go anywhere near Valley Gigantoss now that it was a wreck. At seven miles away, not just the hair upon her head floated freely, but also, the clothing on her body too soon began to take flight, even though with somebody in them, they wouldn't go far. At least here close to the valley, the ground had cooled off enough for Rose to sit down and change into her purple outfit, the armored clothing that was her fashion statement and her way of dressing. The previous day had found her shoes fried to the insoles, to the point where it became neccessary to transform into the dragoon armor, flying to a safe spot. Though it left her thorougly drained, at least the fires had stopped burning here already. With a safe place to rest, the night passed and the journey continued into the current day.

The instability of the ground she walked on made the woman wary of flying rocks. Any wrong hit to the already warped ground could send her tumbling into the sky for eternity. Even with the dulling out of the magic from the campaign, the rocks and debris still flew around like magic-propelled arrows, zooming by at alarming rates so that you'd have to duck and the minute you stood back up, a back-flip would be the only thing that'd save your head.

And that's almost what it took, not even 5 miles outside of the valley. One of the rather large sized chunks of earth had come hurtling at Rose at an amazing speed, straining from larger rock catching a patch of super-high density downward gravity pull, to where it smashed off of a floating land mass, shattering it into pieces, including the one that almost hit Rose. Though, with trained accuracy and skill from flying after many a moon children, she was able to counter it and duck out of the way in time to miss another large fragment.

With all this ducking and dodging, you'd think she was back in the campaign again.

_**[**Magic was hurtling everywhere. It took all the flying in the world just to keep from getting hit when a Virage was around. Just a single sweep of one of thier mighty hands could send gunfire waves of different elemental magic throughout the battle field._

_Such was Belzac and Shirley's fate. Shirley had ducked into a mid-building courtyard to escape a bursting wave of torrential fire was to her misfortune that in its attempt to destroy her, the following Virage took out the pillars that were holding up the courtyard._

_And in a streak of golden fury, Belzac was in like a whirlwind, holding up the falling building. What strength he had, to be able to steady the entire weight of that place. Even without the dragoon armor, Belzac was unusually strong for a giganto. He could lift the entire arrow battery of Vellweb without any help whatsoever._

_And in this case, his burden was a 4 ton building ontop of his massive arms. He held it for Shirley, the one he loved. Even when the mighty hand of the Virage plunged it's clawed talons through his armor, bursting through the otherside and destroying his dragoon wings, he still held the tower, eyes blind in pain, arms burning._

_As Shirley sat up to see her love struggling to give her the chance to escape, a single thought crossed her mind. To be with Belzac eternally._

_"BELZAC!" She cried out in suprise. After a moment of silence, she drew her bow, the magic projectile forming between the bowstring and the sight._

_"Your death will not be in vain..."_

_The light gathered at the Virage's seven grisley eyes, signifying it's charged eye laser, was becoming ever brighter, ever growing. And in that second, the bowstring was released, the Virage cried out in pain and ducked back, yanking Belzac with it, though not far enough to escape the tower, and the entire structure fell on the two lovers._

_Rose had been witness to it all.**]**_

'I saw them all die...' She thought momentarily, though it barely registered in her head. Too busy was her body at dodging the flying earthen projectiles. But it was all rewarded. In her attempts to stay alive, she had managed to skirt the valley, and pass the flaming forests, making Donau by nightfall by some twisted miracle.

Unfortunately, her miracle had not given her the prospect of a safe passage into the town. The moment she arrived, guards rushed to meet her and whisked the woman away to the mayor's office.

"Well well well, a fugitive from Fletz...tell me how did you manage to get here through the burning lands?" Was his first question. The man stood not even five and one half feet tall. His bald head shone brightly in the chandelier cast light that flooded the cieling.

"Lucky I guess." Rose's return came fast, as they always did.

"I hear you registered a dragon in the books. Did you happen to know that someone else registered the same dragon, with a portrait of someone that looks very much like you?"

"Where is this going man?" She asked.

"We've long suspected that true magic was still alive. And there's but one reason we've come to suspect you." He answered.

"I have seen the new polymer-synthosis magic hanging around, so why do you accuse me so fast?" Rose retorted.

"Not our magic, woman. Magic of the Old Times. Your Magic. I know you can do amazing things. And it's because I know that I've taken the liberty of bringing you here. You see, I'm a collector of sorts. I gather things old and lost, things that haven't made a really big impact on other's lives. But you see again, I have one special little piece that I'd like to show you." The man said, backing up and turning to a cabinet behind him. With a quick turn about, he returned to her, holding a piece of paper, a newspaper to be exact. The date was a very long time ago, yet the parchment seemed to be like new.

But it wasn't the age of the paper, nor the quality of it that caught Rose's attention. What did get her eye was where it was from, and a certain figure in a picture as the main article.

'Strange woman Seen Before A Demon Destroys Kazas, then mysteriously vanishes. Sole surviving girl escapes to Bale and lives to tell the tale.'

The mayor pointed to Rose's picture above the caption.

"This is you, is it not?" He asked.

"No."

"Would you agree that you used magic to get across the burning lands?"

"No, pure physical ability got me through. I was...well trained." Rose stated simply, and true to herself, she had been well trained.

"You ARE an ancient power. Who are you really?" The mayor stated point blank. "How is it you got across the fires if not magic? Surely you possess some kind of...special abilities not seen in this present day to accomplish such a feet. This article proves that you were there when the Black Monster ravaged Kazas. Your picture is plastered all over the front page, and here you are, exact armor, exact hair style and complexion, as if you never aged a day in the two-thousand some years between now and then."

Rose was caught. Here was her picture, the armor she wore not even looking that different than the ink drawing. Her hair had stayed the same, and the sun tanning had no effect on her always milky skin. She really didn't look any older, but that was due to the choker.

"You are...?" He asked once again.

"None of your business. Now if you'd kindly let me go, I have work to attend to." Sarcasm evident in her tone, Rose made to get up, but was harshly pushed back down into the chair by one of the mayor's guards.

"You're not going anywhere until we get some answers." The mayor said firmly.

But once again, things would work in Rose's favor.

Once again, the scream of terror she often heard was carried throughout the mid-summer's night. The scream she hunted for. The one that told her time would set itself again into horror as the Moon Child was brought forth from the darkness once again, the moon turning its crimson warning signal. She began to laugh inside as the mayor and his guards ran outside, completely forgetting about thier captive.

For once, someone had come very close to figuring out who Rose really was. So close infact, that she'd actually been worried. And with her chance to escape from the questions that so closely intruded upon her mission, sitting in the chair, Rose let the darkness take over her.

The flames began to grow in the chair as they shot up around her head, enveloping her in the transmigration between her normal self and the body that belonged to the Black Monster. In mere seconds, she sat there, fully changed. As the mayor came walking back in, not even noticing the flames right away, he turned and locked his door out of bad habit, sealing his fate.

"Now then..." He said as he turned around, only to find the face of a nightmare, leaning sarcastically on the demon's arm, as it smirked silently behind its viel of flames. With a little wave of the gnarled fingers upon its other hand, the monster stood from the chair, which by now had caught fire from the Black Flame.

"You...you're the...you're...but you can't...the Black Monster?" He fumbled over his words. It was all he had time to do before the beast had torn at his neck with its claws, pulsing a round of the Black Flame into the room and causing an instant flash over effect, setting everything on fire. As the Black Monster opened the door to go outside, a backdraft of the flames pulsed and exploded out the door behind it, making its exit from the building look like an ascention from the depths of hell.

"Dear Soa! It's The Black Monster!" Someone cried. But the guards that were the mayors needed no warning. They were already in full retreat, running like cowards before the face of true fear. They had already abandoned thier post at the bottom of the stairs the moment the beast burst down the door. Stretching its wings and taking off into the sky, the demon retrieved its spirit sword, holding it up into the air.

The ground below it began to mist over, and in a great flash of light, all the people caught up in the clouds froze up, thier muscles constrained by magic.

With a devilish roar, the inhuman monster stole a glance at the Moon that Never Sets, the bright ruby glow burning like a wildfire of her own torment. It was time to begin business as per usual.

With a quick downswipe of the sword, every person that was frozen in place was seemingly shattered like glass, the after effects of the Death Dimension, a portal to another world that destroyed physical reality like nothing in the world could. The entire area that had been engulfed by the mist had been leveled to nothing but ground, including the mayor's office. With that taken care of, the harbor at Illisa bay needed her attention.

And mere tiny bits of the Black Flame were enough to set the still half asleep town into pure chaos. The night passed and the destruction continued. And upon morning's dawn, not a single person remained alive in Donau.

Somewhere during the course of the evening, the Black Burst Dragon himself had arrived, as if sensing his master's predicament. The young dragon always seemed to know when trouble was about for her and even though she couldn't call out to him directly...he seemed to answer sometimes just to a simple prayer from Rose for his appearance. Thankfully, once the destruction had ceased...the faithful winged guardian grounded himself to Rose. After she had climbed atop his thick neck, bracing against that violent orange fin upon his back, the dragon took off into the night sky.

Far off in the distance, on the small tropical island close to where Rose had once lived, they took shelter. This was once the home of the Blue Sea dragon, until brave little Damia had slain it. And, as with the Darkness Dragon, Rose's suspicions were correct about the vassal dragon being left behind. Further exploration of the small island proved that a young sea dragon lived there. Deep inside one of the caves, the pair discovered her playing carefree in the waters that permeated the island's interior caverns.

When Rose came across the little one, she showed much sympathy. The dragonette was about as old as Michael was, though much different. She was much to be seen, as her total body length had already grown to an enormous size. With a quick flash of her dragoon spirit, the dragon dipped her head submissively, bowing down to Rose quickly.

"Don't be afraid of us little one. We're here to look after you now." She said reassuringly, though in her mind, no intention had actually been there to say such a thing. It had just come to her naturally.

As the dragon crept ever closer, it became apparent that she didn't possess a set of land legs. So, to compensate for this, Rose slept near the ground with the dragon's head right behind her, whilst Michael took to a higher shelf in the cavern where the aquatic one dwelt. She took solace in the presence of familiar beings. Ones that knew compassion, and would most likely live to be quite old. But for the present, her duty as of the next day would be to hunt down her quarry. Whomever it would be...


	8. The Twentythird Incident Final Prelude

There was no denying it now. After hiding in shadows all day long, keeping the light from being noticed, keeping her from being noticed, it became apparent who had become the Moon Child when the shine from her headband did not cease.

Martus was definitely the Moon Child.

But this would mean killing one of her own…could she?

After two thousand four hundred eighty four years of thinking her family was gone…could she truly kill one of her own now?

The idea brought tears to her eyes and a twisting knot the size of a dragon's claw to her stomach. It was an impossible crime. She could not do it.

Even when the crimson light of the moon began to shine again, as it had on her first attack that had never happened since, she could not bring herself to kill him. His house…the spot memorized in her brain. His voice…ringing clearer than a bell in her mind. His face…immortalized.

She had to. But couldn't.

She must, but mustn't.

Rose…would do it, only to ensure the survival of her descendants, those that survived this onslaught.

The wind rushed through onyx hair as it blew about, strapped in by the head guard. Furious brows squinted with destination in sight. Rapier glinted in the dark red bath that covered the sky. Pale yellow veins pulsing with energy, coursing through fluttering wings. It was now a race against time. She had waited far too long.

The glint from the path of the Moon Child soon came upon her. At this rate, the demon would overtake the savior to the destination. There was no time left. The duel would begin and end here, on the outskirts of the soon to be called Death Frontier. It was all that stood between the end and the future.

Far in the distance, a rumbling issued. From beneath her, the ground split and ushered up large roots, thicker than the entire circumference of the floating cities of the winglies themselves. In the distance, an impossibly large tree began to soar into the sky with unimaginable speed.

"Holy Soa…" was all that could be brought forth from the Darkness Dragoon's lips. "The Divine Tree…"

The tree of life, the tree of the beginning. From it, all life sprang forth more than two hundred thousand years before. From it came the dragons, the humans, and of course, the winglies. This tree, now sprouting before her, was ages old, never before seen by man nor beast. And its base would now be the battleground for the life of the very planet.

In an instant, it seemed, the Moon Child had gained on her nearly ten leagues. Now would be the time.

Rose turned to face the light that was the incoming God of Destruction. She dropped it, that which held the beast inside. This would be the first time that very few lost their lives to the monster she kept locked away for one hundred and eight years. The Black Flame removed itself from the scene however…

"What…why? NO!" Rose screamed.

Time and again she desperately tried to loose the beast…

Martus' form drew ever nearer…

The monster would not come…

The world would be doomed to the fate that Soa herself had set for it…

Unless…

"If I cannot fight you as the Black Monster, we'll die together, ancestor and descendent…"

Drawing her sword to point blank on the Moon Child, she drew her breath, courage and demeanor. It would end here. With the death of this Moon Child would come the end of her journey.

"With the killing of ancestry so shall end the cycle of the Moon Child…" Rose whispered to herself.

The Moon Child stopped, hung in mid air, seemingly disturbed by the sight of someone in its path.

"Who art thou that wouldst hinder my pilgrimage to the moon?" It spoke in Martus' voice.

"I am she who is and was, the Black Monster." Rose responded.

"But the monster has not shown itself. Something amiss?" It smirked.

"The demon may no longer be loosed upon this world, but it is that demon that shall end this cycle once and for all!" She cried back.

"Silly fool. Thou canst not stop the cycle. Once the Black Monster is out of mine way for good, I shall migrate to my body, even if we both die this round. Once I commune with the Divine Tree, I will know where the restraints upon my body are kept...and I will destroy them to have it descend to this very spot. And even if I die...I will be back. But I canst not sayeth the same for thou. It has been two and twenty times until now that I have been destroyed by you, demon."

And it was with this that Rose knew her sad journey would continue. But with slight uplift, and a tear in her eye…

"I am not the demon, monster. You are. I know what it is you seek. And I shall not let it be. For the sake of my long gone sibling Ruth, and of my mother and father, it will be that you die here!"

Drawing her rapier high, Rose charged forward, energy surging through her wings to push her faster than the strike of a serpent, towards her foe. The Moon Child stared back, undaunted. The same smirk still held on its face, the face of Martus, it budged not an inch in any direction. The monster floated in its spot, stoically.

Rose hesitated for a mere second. There was something wrong. He should not have been so confident. But then again, he'd never fully experienced the power of the Black Monster, just a small dose. And then again, she was not the Black Monster, she was only Rose, the Dragoon of Darkness.

The hesitation was the moment he needed, for the Moon Child swept forth upon her, casting a volley of heavenly bolts down upon the unprepared woman.

Pain, searing heat and savage brutality…all came from the attack as it surged through her body. Slicing flesh where it hit, damaging her armor, Rose fell backward, a face of pure shock and terror held upon her face. For the first time in two millenniums, she felt afraid…


	9. The Twentythird Incident Finale

The volley had caught her off guard, but not again. Time, the ever silent guardian of life, was now against her as the Moon Child backed her closer and closer to its destination. Through each dash, glide and brunt attack they swept together, some sick twisted fantasy turned real life. A darkened piece of poetry turned to motion.

Each time the true demon would lash out against her, she who was considered a devil would return again with another strike. The battle was wearing on into the hour, most of the time with Rose on her defense. The dragoon's armor, now well past its limits, was tearing apart at the near perfect seams.

But Martus raged on, enhanced by the power of a demi-god at his fingertips. The mock light that shone from his presence seemed only to sear at Rose even further as she fought with growing desperation. Martus could sense it too, if he had been himself. He would have seen the woman before him fighting for not only her life, but the lives of every living thing on the planet. If only her dragon was there to help, she thought...perhaps things wouldn't have gotten this bad.

'Michael...where are you when I need you?' Rose silently prayed, hoping he would answer.

But she was at her limit, feeling the power fading as her wings began to flutter and flicker out of existence. With a glancing blow from the demon's fist, she was brought crashing to the ground. But stay down she wouldn't. This monster had to die yet again...and again and again...

Seeing an opportunity to bring the dragoon of darkness to her knees, the Moon Child decided to ploy out her feelings.

"So...tell me Rose...how is Michael? Faring well?" He shot at her.

The words glanced through her like acid. If killing her wasn't enough, he now had to use taunts to get what he wanted...

"You..." She sputtered through half a mouthful of blood. "You bastard...how...did you know...about Michael?"

The monster laughed, a loud racious sound devoid of soul.

"Can you honestly believe, that being the son of the great creator...Soa..., that mother wouldn't tell me of everything that has happened? All of the chances I missed to fulfill her will? Oh yes, the eventual demise of the pet of Rose is one of her favorite topics, when she isn't ridiculing me for my failures...but that's not the best part."

"What do you mean, demon?" Rose asked. A twisted grin spread across his lips.

"What I like about this tale is that according to Mother, He will die by your hands."

She could not believe her ears.

"NO!" She defied. "I WON'T BELIEVE IT!"

"Oh Yes...dearest woman. And when that comes to pass, your precious little pet will be a slave in my mother's court. She thinks it such a waste to let a dragon go to hell." He yawned, then spat on her. "If it were me, no beast would be sullying my chambers with its useless presence...Ah...but there's another glorious part of my reign." He spoke up when yet another glimmer of disbelief crossed Rose's face.

"Yes, tis one of the quirks of being a god. You get to decide what happens when things die. Such a boring task if you ask me. They should all be lost to what those silver-haired whelps-in-slavers-clothing winglies called Mayfil." He continued. "Then again, there are other things I do so enjoy about being me."

Rose could only wonder what was left for him to point out.

"This little talk of family reminded me of a few special flesh-wastes...particulalry ones in your interest..."

The armor finally fell as she sank to the ground, most of the energy gone from her body. Life giving liquid flowed freely from various cuts and abrasions, gashes and wounds. It wouldn't be long now.

"I heard that after you were presumed dead that your mother went and did some horrid things. She couldn't live without her husband and daughter...so where else was left to go? And what of your dear sister? Hmm hmm hmmm...too bad about that one..." He chuckled.

Rose hadn't the strength left to utter any words of threat...anything that would mean she could possibly have a hope of living to see another day. The beast's words were becoming vague, little clouds passing over her near inactive self.

"Selling herself into intercourse? Now that is truly disgusting. After the first three men were done with her, she wasn't even pretty enough to sell again. No less for your mother as well...that poor depraived whore went down the same road that your sister did. And now, as punishment in your stead..."

He paused and leaned in close to her.

"They are with us...just as your poor, pathetic, can't do anything dragon will be one day."

Soa only knew what was rising now. And where it came from, even the earthly woman herself could not know. Something...perhaps sparked by the last miniscule torturing statement passed on by the beast, had struck up a fire inside Rose. One battered eye fluttered open to see the demon basically walking away from her towards the Divine Tree and the Moon That Never Sets.

"Farewell...Black Mistress. May your death be...unpleasantly agonizing." He waved at her body, not knowing himself what was going on behind him. The battle, in his mind was won. The woman was defeated. Though a good fight was fought, he prevailed. And it was that pompous attitude that would be his undoing yet again.

The eye that had opened was now rapidly shutting and opening again. With one final blink, it completely shrouded over in a blackness darker than the deepest, darkest hell that the winglies could have ever thought of. The other snapped open, also opal as the first. The small fire that had been burning merely seconds ago had flashed over into a full roaming, completely evolved fire storm of hatred and disgust. At that moment, every dark moment of Rose's life flashed before her eyes.

The day the winglies came...

The day of separation from her parents...

The first week of slave ettiquette...

Her favorite doll rended to shreds before her eyes by her master's pet wyvern...

Every hour of torture brought on by that madman of a slaver...

The death of the Darkness Dragon...

The first attack on a wingly city...

The loss of Syuviel and Damia at Mayfil...

Having Shirely, Belzac and Kanzas lost in Kadessa...

Zieg...

As the Moon Child reached the base of the Divine Tree, he could taste his final, glorious victory at hand. Letting an arm out to either side, he levitated up the trunk towards the upper branches. For a moment, he held and turned to look out at the spot where he left Rose. The human inside had been strong enough to take one last glance.

In his horror though, he spotted something.

A black dome, energy streaking across it like lightning, was growing around where he last saw the dragoon collapse. A terrifying roar, even to a demi-god, tore from the dome of power as it became a column of blackness that ripped through the sky, the clouds above swirling into a vortex of chaos. Multiple funnels dropped from the heavens, sucking up the dust and grit from the dry, cracked ground.

Round after deafening round of thunder pealed immediately after their lightning counterparts as the winds kicked up into a gale force wall of destruction. The Divine Tree itself began to shake at the roots, threatening to wrench itself from the ground and return to its slumber beneath the surface.

As the finale to the horror scene, the pillar of dark magic recessed, rushing over the ground like sheets on a child's bed. With a crash never before heard on Endiness, that echoed even to the city of Kazas, a massive crater opened up in the ground. When the winds gave up their onslaught, the beast in Martus' body dared to look at the hole.

In the center, wrapped in a blanket of rolling black fire, stood a mad, raving creature. Where the wings once were, laid nothing but airy wisps of magic, much like the winglies wings. The hair that hung around the woman's body now flew wildly all over the place. The normal claws of the monster had been replaced by talons that looked like that of Michael's great feet, the monstrosity's legs and such being completely shrouded in darkness.

The beast cracked its neck and glowered directly at the Moon Child. Martus just cackled insanely.

"So THIS is The TRUE Black Monster! How Extraordinary! Such Power!" He seemed elated. Perhaps not knowing that in waiting for this challenge, he had sealed his own fate?

But this new form...this Black Demon...had no remnant of its former self what so ever. If anything in Rose could have stopped it before, there would be no chance in saving anyone now.

Rose could finally be who she was, after the true demon showed up and trapped her in a little corner in her mind. She had it all to herself. And she cried...like never before. All of the failures and past happenings. The newest failure to protect Martus from such a fate. Everyone gone...and the demon fed off of it, provoked such thoughts, for as long as Rose was left in despair, it would reign.

The demon took off at unimaginable speed, faster than what the human eye could see. But its departure was not to be left without a tremendous explosion of force in its wake. The crater grew twenty feet deeper as a sonic-boom followed its creator out of the hole. If anyone had been around to see it, the only other description would have been other-worldly workings.

The rush of the demon brought the Moon Child back to reality as he saw his opponent racing up to meet him. With barely enough time to react, he dove out of the way to avoid the black meteor being thrust at his body. Little cover was provided by the now thinning out branches, and with no place to hide, he prepared himself for the fight of his immortal life.

But the monster was in no mood to play hide and seek. It began blasting everything with the black flame, torrential fire pulsed across the roots and branches in an attempt to flush out the quarry. It wasn't long before the burning wave crossed the victim, searing his skin like never before. For once, the demi-god felt true pain.

"You bitch!" He cried in agony while dousing his arms of fire. But yet more volleys of the wall of pain were sent at him, coursing through the empty space like guided missiles. He was immediately caught full ablaze this time, sent plummeting to the ground. The instant he hit, the monster drove into him, claws alight with the black flame as they tore through the vessel that carried the true demon.

With barely enough time to push her off of him, the Moon Child fled, rocketing at unimaginable speeds towards his haven at the center of the height of the Divine Tree. A sudden jerk in his flight caught him by suprise as he was once again hurtling to the ground. And this time, there was no getting up. The Black Demon produced the spirit sabre and slammed it through him, pinning him to the ground. In his last moments, all he could see was the darkness encompassing his vessel as he slowly began his migration back to the heavens.

With the demon gone from Martus' body, the black monster regained herself, but with not an ounce of strength left to move. She collapsed to her knees as the roots of the Divine Tree pulled from the ground once again and it sank back beneath the crust of the earth.

From the distance, a small form slowly made its way across the great dry land, slowly taking shape as that of Michael. With a distraught cry, he landed next to Rose, nudging her limp form with the tip from one of his nasal crests.

"Michael...my baby..." Rose breathed out lightly, remembering the Moon Child's words. "Better late than never I guess." She spoke, fading into unconsciousness as the dragon gently gripped her in one of his large hind claws before taking off towards the island cave and the awaiting aquatic dragon.


	10. Remembering the Lost

Remembering the Lost...

3887 years after the Dragon Campaign ended.

The sun had been hidden behind thick, dark clouds, even in the deserts of the Death Frontier. Rain poured down from on high as if the gods themselves were weeping uncontrollably. As the sand and rock soaked everything in, a pair of blue eyes scanned the wasteland horizon. Her hair blew about her face whilst the winds kicked up multiple clouds of sand, the only thing shielding her from it being her armor, and a small veil.

Rose stood atop the outcropping of rock next to the teleporter to Ulara, taking in the feeling of the wind and the rain. Such comforts, just being able to feel them every day was a blessing. At any time during the past three thousand, eight hundred eighty seven years, the world could have ended. Many a moon child had been slain at the hands of the savior in demon's dressings. Though no one could truly understand her pain, she alone never shared with anyone. Not even Charle of Ulara.

Today was the anniversary of the deaths of Syuviel and Damia, the original Jade and Blue Sea dragoons. Today, it had been almost three thousand and nine hundred years since they had been slaughtered by the Winglies that Rose now sought refuge with. Not the same ones, but she wouldn't doubt that they somehow had a hand in it.

* * *

_She could never forget the look upon Syuviel's face when they entered the cell. A little girl, outfitted in a simple cloak and peasant's clothes, with aquamarine hair and scales adorning her face and ears, knelt upon the cold stone floor. Her wrists bled freely from underneath heavy cuffs that held her prisoner in the room that drained all water elemental magicks._

_They had taken everything away from her. Her parents, her friends...her freedom. And now, as she looked to the others, her skin paling by the second...they were taking away her very life._

_It was all they could do to keep Syuviel from rushing into the cell to try and break the chains. Even Belzac was having a hard time restraining him. Zieg was frantically calling for Shirely as Belzac held Syuviel back, heavy tears forming under his bagged eyes. Rose had already sunk to her knees in shock, while Kanzas stood by, almost unperturbed by the scene. Had he no ounce of humanity left in him?_

_"I...don't want to die..." Damia gulped back the tears, choking herself with gasps of air as she struggled to hold on._

_Syuviel was in hysterics...even though they were about eleven years apart, he had sworn love to the little half-mermaid. And she for him. When Damia began to tilt to the side, nothing could hold Syuviel back. He burst past Belzac amazingly, no one thinking anyone could break the Giganto's grip. Catching her mid-fall, he sat there and caressed the little one's head._

_"Shh..shhhh..." He was stuttering through tears. "It's going to be...all.. right...Shirely's on the way."_

_But everyone knew it was hopeless. Even when Shirely arrived in the dark room, she saw what had been done, and turned, pressing herself to Belzac's chest...sobbing._

_Damia's wrists had been slit by magic...Wingly magic...and nothing Shirely could do would be able to close the wounds. Not even the healing powers of the White Silver Dragon could stop the inevitable now._

_As she began to rack herself with gasping breaths, blood covering her clothes and the armor of her love, her lids half closed and she spoke._

_"I love you...Syuviel...don't leave...me..." Her little hand reached up to touch his face. Syuviel met it half way with his own, locking hands with Damia. The armored glove was visibly shaking as he fought back, trying so hard to hold onto the life that was being lost before him. As if that simply by holding her where she lay, she would be restored._

_Damia struggled to lean up close to Syuviel, huddling against his body. For one whom never felt cold, she was like ice, even through his armor. Momentarily, the heavy coughing had stopped. Syuviel went down to kiss his beloved, the little one doing her best to return the gesture. For the better part of a minute, they locked together in love's embrace...before she went limp in his arms...

* * *

_

Rose's eyes welled up at the mere memory. Damia had been but fifteen summers old. To die such a way for one so young...must have been horrible. It was times like this that Rose cursed the fact that she even lived to see another day. Making her way forward down the sloping path, she carried two bundles of flowers. One blue...and one green. Strange desert flowers that only bloomed this time of year. In a way, it was like the two dragoons had their own little tribute from nature.

As the spot she'd been looking for came into view, the rain began to slacken off, turning into a small drizzle. Even the wind died down, as if both dragoons were somewhere above, taming their respective elements, for just one moment of rememberance. Two carved stones had been placed upon an altar beside four others. Tomorrow she would visit the other four. Today though, was the day for just these two. They had been painted the colors of jade and aqua-marine.

Picking out the blue stems of the flowers, Rose laid them gently down before the marine stone, a small prayer coursing through her lips in the language of the merfolk, taught to her by Damia soon after they had moved into Vellweb. A prayer of hope, of peace and eternal rest in the oceans, of songs of old sung by the sailors of good fortune brought by the merfolk.

As she stood, she placed the green flowers aside momentarily...raising her head to the sky...

And as she did every year, Rose...began to sing in the tongue of the Merfolk...

_

* * *

Korinah...me-aiy ah lee-ah...  
Korinah...su geysah lee-aiy...  
Yahlay oh nehwee-ay...kaiy yowinae ohwah...  
Korinah...kaiy leendeeyo su dah..._

_Me-say-oh...telen dee-oh gai-yo...  
Haytenah...mer-we-stay kai-ay...  
Lehko dah hetwhey doh kahnna metehn kah ley-see...  
Me-say-oh...que-merwest engo..._

_Rose would never forget the first time she had heard Damia singing...it was the most beautiful thing she could have ever imagined... She had accidentally happened upon the young one's voice while reading alone in her room. The song had touched upon her ears, carried by the breeze between the towers. Lightly walking around the circled balcony, Rose climbed the stairs to Damia's room, peeking in the doorway. _

She would also never forget the look upon the girl's face while she sang. It seemed so lonesome...as if no one in the world existed to tell her she would be all right. Like everyone she had loved and cared for was gone forever. Tears flowed freely down her face, dripping to the floor and joining the water that fell from the fountain in the middle of the room.

The little one had still not noticed Rose was there, her gaze turned out the window towards the oceans...perhaps where she had lived? The tone of her voice was one of apparent longing...also of sadness. Anyone who would have heard her could have told you that. As Rose listened, she seemed to be able to understand what the little mermaid sang of. Family...tragedy. Memories.

"What are you singing about?" She finally asked.

Damia's head niether turned nor acknowleged Rose's presence...but her voice did.

"Everyone here hates me. They don't like me because I'm different. Especially that red headed man. He seems to not like anyone." Damia sighed. She had arrived from her residence Magrad only weeks ago, the time of appointment with her duel against the dragon coming soon.

"Not everyone likes everyone. That's to be expected. But what makes you think they hate you?" Rose replied.

"I see the way they look at me as I walk through the city. Offside glances, whispers held behind hands. It makes me wonder sometimes if I was better off with the Winglies...at least you knew what to do there. No waiting...no hoping. Here, I'm confused. I know what I have to do, but I wonder if anyone will care. Because I'm not one of them, they will see it as a meager accomplishment." Her gaze never left the window.

Rose was always shocked at how well the girl spoke, even for her age of thirteen. She had the tongue of a scholar, and the mind to match. No one could say she was stupid...that was for damned sure. But she was right...because she was only half human, and half mermaid...people looked down on her. In some ways, they truly **were** no better than the Winglies themselves.

_"Now here...that's not all true. May I come in?" _

Damia nodded without looking at Rose, her head held in her hand, elbow leaning on the sill of the window.

"I for one think they're wrong about you. I see nothing different. We are but the same, with minor differences. We both breathe...we both move. you and I share common communication, yes? We are no different from each other." Rose stated, a small smile stealing across her face.

_Damia finally turned, revealing herself. Her face still held some scars from Charle's beatings, and her scales shined brightly in the reflections of the water. Her eyes were crimson rubies with opals set inside. She was beautiful for her age. _

"Rose...you know very well that it will never end. People will always look down on others. Others will look down on us. We will rule and be ruled. It's the natural order, and we can't escape it. Just as we cannot escape our deaths...I sense they are not far off." It was sad to see someone so young resigned to their fate so soon in life. But yet again, she had a point. That truly was the way things worked. Survival of the fittest, death of the weakest. One life preying on another for sustinence and power.

"Damia...we may have little time here, but why spend it in saddness? Think of everything good that we have. Vellweb...Diaz...Syuviel..."

"Zieg?" Damia said, a smile now creeping across her own face. Rose couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yes...even Zieg."

Damia's face returned to her somber state, however. Almost pensieve.

"Would you like to know what I was singing about?" She asked Rose.

"If you wouldn't mind telling me." Rose replied.

Damia turned and got up from her perch, her blue robes billowing out from underneath her navy blue mantle. She went to her bed and looked underneath, picking out a book. With the book in hand, she returned to her perch by the window and opened the book. Rose stood puzzled, but none the less curious.

"My home...to the south of here...was devastated by the Winglies. The merfolk colonies that lived in this area were trapped in ice and snow when the bastards cast the spell at us to freeze us out of hiding. Even though we prevailed, my people suffered. My song was one of rememberance...for all those whom I've lost. I wouldn't be suprised if I was the only one left." Damia spoke softly, barely audible.

"Would you teach me? That way, we can honor together everyone we've both lost." Rose's voice trembled slightly.

Damia's head turned, her quiet gaze locking onto Rose's.

"All right. Come sit beside me. We will sing together." She smiled...

* * *

And it was that exact song that Damia had taught Rose, that the older woman sang now. To honor and remember the six lost in the campaign, the dragons...and the humans. Everyone who fought and died against the Winglies. Tears flowed from her eyes as each word left her lips, saddened by the loss of everyone she ever cared for. As the song ended, Rose knelt and prayed again.

Turning her eyes to the bundle of green flowers she had set aside, Rose picked them up and once again, touched back to her memories...

_

* * *

Syuviel had stormed out of the room, lance ready to impale any Wingly who got in his way. This war had become far more than personal now. Nothing could have stopped him, had he any control over himself. His mind was all but gone, having lost the last one in the world whom had made any difference to him. Summoning his dragon by the spirit, the Jade Dragon crashed through the wall at the end of the Cellblock. Syuviel lept on and together, they took of, maliciously destroying anything that got in their way. _

Linked by mind and soul, the dragon felt Syuviel's pain and anger, his own being mixed with that of his master's. Together, they ran rampant through the city, decimating building after building, Wingly after Wingly. Only when they came face to face with Virage did they halt. The S-Type Virage was blocking the only way to the central core of Mayfil. The one way to destroy the city was to destroy the core, terminating the magic that held it aloft.

Syuviel leapt off of the dragon, taking flight at the monstrosity with thirty two eyes. There was no way he could have defeated it alone, or with the help of his dragon. By the time the others had arrived on scene, Syuviel was near death himself, the Virage shaking on its two legs as it held the dragon impaled in it's massive claws. Zieg called in his dragon to fight, as did Rose and Belzac. Together, the combined three dragoons and three dragons took the last fight out of Virage, dropping the beast to the floating ground.

Shirely had rushed down to Syuviel to find his armor punctured solid all the way through his chest. Her magic could not mend organs damaged that badly. The White Silver Vassal tried...but also failed. And so, in the following minutes, Syuviel went to join his love on the other side.

This time, even Kanzas shed a single, lonely tear, no matter how hard he tried to hide it...

* * *

Placing the green flowers next to their respective stone, Rose stepped back, only to hear the teleporter activate back up the ridge. Charle had come through, looking for Rose. But this was one place that would not allow Winglies, no matter how much Rose was endeared to them now. She drew her rapier and raced up the hillside in a frenzy.

"BACK! GO BACK TO ULARA!" She yelled, planting herself firmly between Charle and the memorial stones. Her rapier trained on the Wingly, dead center between Charle's eyes. "I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH I OWE YOU, OR HOW MUCH WE FIGHT FOR THE SAME CAUSE NOW! THIS LAND SHALL NOT BE TOUCHED BY YOU, OR **-ANYONE-** RESIDING IN ULARA! **_UNDERSTAND_**?"

Charle, though thoroughly shocked and taken aback, simply nodded understandingly and returned through the portal from whence she came. As the rain finally stopped and the winds died down completely, Rose returned to the memorials, kneeling back down. The rest of her day was spent reminiscing...and by Charle's orders...from that day on, no one was to use the portal but Rose...


	11. Breaking the Cycle

5832 Years after the Dragon Campaign.

The sky flared briefly as the Demonized spawn of the God of Destruction cackled madly in the hellish light cast by the blazing red moon. Rose was pitting every ounce of strength against the inhuman monster, battling once again with the lives of all of Endiness hanging in the outcome. It had been four and fifty times she'd faced this monster, yet still, he hadn't gained any new tricks, and it was getting old. Then again...it was no easier than the first time she had truly faced off against the Moon Child.

They had always fought with such determination, such brutal ruthlessness that Rose would've guaranteed had anyone been around to witness the fight, that they'd know who the true monster was. A being so saintly as the Moon Child should've never had that sort of tenacity to begin with, yet he did. And the demi-god knew that every time he and the Black Monster faced off, that she only got stronger.

He was becoming desperate over the last few hundred years, trying to find a weakness in her somewhere to exploit, but none came. He'd tried subjecting her to torment, yet her armor deflected all but his strongest attacks now. He'd tried anguish and despair, and she'd overcome that by pushing the memories out of her way. There had to be some weak point in her somewhere.

And there was. Even she who rode the night sky on flaming onyx wings knew not what was happening to her. She'd become oblivious to the obvious detriment that her many hard centuries of sparring with the Moon Child had brought upon her. It'd been passed over as though it were a mere triviality, and slowly, but ever so gradually, it had taken place.

As she dealt the killing blow to end the current crisis, the Moon Child gazed through the flames to her own eyes, and whispered in his dying breaths.

"I know you have a weakness. And I will find it."

With that, the body of the victim he'd inhabited fell limp upon her sword and the demi-god ascended back into heaven, once more beaten.

Rose alighted on the ground, a small wake flowing out into the grassy field around her as the energies from her spiritual transmigration back to her human state rolled back and became calm. She stood, staring at the blood upon her rapier, eyes dull and uncaring. Wiping the liquid on the hem of her tunic, she replaced the weapon into its frog on her belt, turned around and strode away without even a single moment's regret for the life that'd been taken in pursuit of saving the rest of humanity.

The morning had come before she set foot in the wastelands that hid the Wingly city of Ulara from the human world. It was nearly midday by the time her form appeared through the emerald flash of the portal of the palace bedrooms, her hair floating in wisps as the energy around her died out. She quickly undressed, placing the scuffed and beaten tunic on the table beside her bed before turning and heading to the springs for a shower. It had become routine, scheduled almost. Right down to the minute she stepped under the falling water of the spring. The water was warm, as always it would be, being heated by a special magickal furnace that had been built into the springs rocky enclosure, and it rolled off her skin and through to the drain. Like it had the last time...and the time before.

Once more, like clockwork, Rose found her way to the bar in the middle of the city, ordering herself a drink...it never changed. Reese, the barkeep, didn't even ask anymore what to give her. He knew right away to take the third bottle from the left, and to make it a tall glass. She'd fallen into a lull, as it were. And everyone around her noticed it too. She'd begun to once again stand out more than normal, like she had when she and the rest of the dragoons were slaves to the Winglies. Most of the Winglies were soon to pick up talking about her, and her latest slaughter in a darker light than one might expect to hear about the saviour of the world.

Charle herself was disturbed at the stories she'd heard, so much that it was time to have a sit down with Rose...

"And I'd like you to be there by no later than half-past the last quarter of my sundial." She kept it brief. As expected, the woman shrugged it off with a nod, and finished her drink.

Life had taken on a rather meaningless quality in the last few centuries for Rose. The daily mundane activities seemed to pass quicker than ever, each sun up no different from the last. Each nightfall brought on less and less painful dreams of the past events that still plagued her mind. It was almost as if she'd begun to forget...

Evening's quiet embrace had touched upon the Wingly city long before Rose left the tavern. She made her way to the fountain square, visiting in on the snapdragon plants that grew there. Though still small, she kept a wary glance upon the budding heads as she sat down and stroked them, remembering that they could bite as quick as the snake strikes. Idly, she thought back to a time long since forgotten by the world when Charle used to sit on the stone bench adjacent to the fountain, the wingly woman gently touching upon the heads of the plants in commune with them.

"I see you've finally grown accustomed to contact with them." A voice snapped her out of her stupor.

Even as she turned around, one of the plants nipped at her finger in irritation at the disruption of her attention. Rose quickly put the finger to her mouth as she swiveled to look upon the face of a discontented Charle Frahma.

"You didn't show up, so I came looking for you. Funny that I would find you in a place you should loathe more than the creature I tasked you to kill."

"You speak of a place and time far removed from my memory." Rose retorted.

"Ah, but is it so far gone that you've forgotten the hatred you used to harbor towards this city and it's inhabitants?"

"Let's say I try not to think about it anymore."

As Rose turned back to the plants to continue her careful attendance of them, Charle joined her on the bench, smoothing out her billowing pink dress and silver corset top.

"Something amiss dearie? I think it's safe to say that you haven't quite been yourself as of late."

Rose looked to Charle, a disconcerting frown upon her lips.

"I'm the same as I've always been. Miserable, homeless and alone in a world that would kill me for the chance to let themselves die in stupidity."

"Oh you're not alone and you know it." Charle placed a thin hand upon the woman's shoulder. "To be alone would mean there would be nothing or no one for you to turn to, and we both know that you call this place home now as much as you did back then."

"This never was, nor will it ever be my home." Rose snarled silently. "My home was burned to the ground by your people. And then, the only other place I'd felt at home...was wrenched from me by years of decay and dilapidation after the world forgot about those who tried to save it. Even now you forbid me to return there if even just to gain solace to the wrongs unjustly done to my family and friends."

"I forbid you from going there to keep you from reliving the nightmare that came about because of what was done. It would do you no good to visit there, for you'd just end up dwelling on your sadness and misery. You must always remember Rose to live in the present. Learn from the past, and look to a brighter future. If you believe there is one, there will be."

"No." Rose spat out, keeping her gaze upon the plants. "My future died a long time ago. This...is just what I'm left with. Picking up the pieces of a broken life that no one knows about. Never again to find happiness or love."

Charle sighed. "That's being a bit mellow-dramatic, don't you think?"

Rose bolted up and turned to face the Wingly, eyes burning in threat of the demon within trying to force it's way to the surface.

"Mellow-Dramatic? It was YOU who forced me into this! I never asked for any of it! Because of YOU...because of you...My World Fell Apart!"

"You knew what it meant to say yes to my request, Rose. I only told you of what would happen. It was your decision to do it or let the world die." Charle replied calmly.

Throwing her hands up to the sides of her head, Rose seethed for many moments before releasing her breath through gritted teeth as she slowly sank back down to the bench.

"I know. Gods how I know. But what if I'd have said no?"

Charle thought on that for a second before answering.

"Well, I believe that you would've done it anyway. Once the Moon Child began to destroy its bonds and the Moon That Never Sets fell to the Earth...you would've picked up the fight. As would we all. But you are the only one who could drive that monster off. None of us have the power to face it alone as you do. None of us, even in great numbers, could even dream of fighting against you and succeeding, as it were. So you in effect...are still the only one who can do this and win another day for the people of this planet."

"But I gave up everything to have a life that no longer exists. What is worth that?" A solitary tear rolled down the dragoon's cheek.

"The continuation of the lives that Zieg and everyone else fought and died for. The prolonged existence of those families who survived my brother's cruel reign and the ensuing chaos and disorder afterward. Is that not worth one life?"

"If I had known my fate...I would've rather died with the others than suffer this existence." Another tear joined the first.

"Well now there's something I haven't seen you do in a while." Charle cooed.

"Be quiet and let me have this." Two more fell off of her chin and onto the stone walkway.

Charle moved closer to Rose, placing her arms around the younger woman.

"It's okay dearie. No one would fault you for wanting to give this away. We understand what it must be like."

"No you don't. No one can, and no one ever will." Rose choked between growing sobs as her head fell to Charle's shoulder. The Wingly woman gently ran her fingers through Rose's hair as the younger left loose a few centuries of bottle up emotions. She began to hum an ancient Wingly lullaby as she cradled the one whom she'd come to love as a daughter, rocking slowly side to side as the young one cried her despair away to the night sky.

When at last Rose could not shed another tear, she sat up sniffling lightly.

"I asked you to the palace tonight to discuss why it seemed you'd become so distant. But, it looks as though even though the outside is callous, the inside is still as caring and needing as ever before. Why hadn't you come to me before about these thoughts Rose? You know you have my ear whenever you have need of it."

"Would you have taken me seriously if I had reacted any other way?" Rose removed a gauntlet, wiping her nose on the back of her unprotected hand.

"I probably would've scolded you." Charle chuckled. "I see now that things have worked out to be exactly as they should."

"It still doesn't make me feel any better."

"And it won't. Those are scars that will likely never heal completely. But it helps to remember that even though this life you lead now is anything but glamorous or easy...that you do proud the memory of those who have come and gone before you by keeping this world alive and well for another day. Just keep that thought close to your heart, and look towards the future. You never know, we may find a way to break this cycle completely one day. Then...you can have that life you've always dreamed of."

Rose almost laughed.

"Knowing my luck, I'd die the moment it happened."


End file.
